James J. Murren, the chairman and chief executive officer of MGM, remembers it as the worst time in his corporate life.

"It was an incredibly challenging time," Murren said. "It seemed the problems were too big for one company to withstand."

James Murren, chairman and chief executive officer of MGM Resorts International, speaks during a press conference when the company unveiled plans for a Springfield casino during an event in August at the MassMutual Center. The Republican photo by Mark M. Murray

After leading a turnaround at MGM over the past several years, Murren is now focused on another possible reclamation project - the city of Springfield and its struggling downtown.

MGM, the biggest casino operator on the Las Vegas strip, is planning a nearly $850 million casino resort on 14.5 acres in the South End neighborhood, an area ravaged by the tornado of June 1, 2011.

MGM is competing with Wyomissing, Pa.-based Penn National Gaming, which is proposing an $807 million casino in the North End, including properties owned by The Republican and the Peter Pan Bus Lines.

Mayor Domenic J. Sarno is negotiating agreements with both companies and intends to put one or both on the ballot for city voters.

Murren, the son of lawyer, grew up in Fairfield, Conn. and graduated from Trinity College in Hartford in 1983.

He views Springfield as "a proud city pummeled by challenges over the decades," and a place where people are passionate and determined about the future.

Murren believes Springfield can engineer a revival. "It will," he said, "and we want to be part of that."

Murren said he feels MGM's planned casino could energize a largely demoralized area.

Back in 2008, when world financial markets collapsed and panic struck stock markets, MGM also could have been demoralized, he said. At the time, the company was building the largest privately-financed construction project in the country - the $9 billion CityCenter Las Vegas.

It was bad timing for a project that relied on banks, and MGM's revenues began to fall during the crisis. Murren said he pulled every lever to manage costs and to give the company time to emerge from its revenue decline.

He cut projects, persuaded banks to restructure debt, laid off some 8,000 MGM employees, reduced benefits for other employees and revised terms with Dubai World, the company's financial partner on the CityCenter project.

Amid the recession, 60,000 people had applied for jobs at CityCenter, including most union positions. After some dicey moments, the project opened in December 2009.

People were hired over several months, he said, and, then, in one day, 10,000 people starting working at CityCenter, a 75-acre luxury complex that features the Aria Resort & Casino and a tram that connects to two other casinos operated by the company.

James MurrenThe Republican photo by Michael S. Gordon

MGM is also sound financially again, Murren said.

"We prevailed when a lot of people didn't think we would," he said. "We're proud of how we have recovered. The company is much, much stronger financially. We are growing again."

Revenues and profits have been improving over the last several quarters, according to Murren. The company finished last year on a strong note and is off to a strong start this year, he added.

While at the company, Murren led $15 billion worth of acquisitions at MGM, making it the largest gaming company in the world. The company, however, has $13.5 billion of debt on its books and $1.6 billion in cash.

During a boom in the casino industry, MGM, which trades on the New York Stock Exchange, saw its stock skyrocket to about $85 in late 2007. When the financial crisis hit, the stock plummeted to less than $2 at its low in March of 2009. It now is hovering at around $13 after rising about 14 percent this year.

The company, which has about $9 billion in annual sales, operates 19 wholly owned resorts in Nevada, Detroit, and Mississippi, in addition to the MGM Macau resort and casino in China. MGM has about 62,000 employees.

When he was at Trinity College, Murren wanted to be an architect. He studied art history and urban planning - until one year he landed "a really good internship" at the old Connecticut Bank & Trust.

That led to a position in 1984 as a research assistant for Cyrus J. Lawrence in New York, which he said was a "great research firm" on Wall Street. Those were the days before the Internet when good equity research was at a premium in the market.

Cyrus Lawrence was later acquired by Morgan Grenfell, a merchant bank in the United Kingdom, which in turn was bought by Deutsche Bank Group.

Murren rose to managing director and director of equity research for Deutsche Bank, and ended up working on Wall Street for 14 years, many from an office in a Gothic-style building at 115 Broadway, overlooking the once-looming twin towers of the World Trade Center.

In 1998, he accepted a post as chief financial officer at MGM. He became chief operating officer in 2007 and then chairman and chief executive officer in 2008.

While working on Wall Street, Murren also met Heather Hay, who was group chief for global consumer products equity research at Merrill Lynch. Murren and Hay have now been married 22 years and they have two sons, ages 17 and 14.

James Murren speaks at a press conference in August at the MassMutual Center to announce the casino operator's plans for Springfield. As a college student, Murren traveled to the building in the early 1980s to see concerts when it was called the Springfield Civic Center. The Republican photo by Mark M. Murray

Murren and his wife are both civic minded.

After the terrorist attacks of September 2001, Mrs. Murren retired in 2002 to help Murren's brother, Dr. John R. Murren, co-found the Nevada Cancer Institute, which opened in 2005. John Murren was a top lung cancer specialist at the Yale University Cancer Clinic for 16 years, and he was running the clinic at the time of his death. He died of melanoma three months after the Nevada clinic opened.

"It was one of those sad, ironic twists," said James Murren about his brother's death.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid recognized Heather Hay's financial skills and appointed her in 2009 to the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, a 10-member federal commission created to study the causes of the financial crisis. The commission's report, issued in January 2011, was on the New York Times bestseller list for a while.

Murren said his wife now is studying to become an emergency medical technician.
"I'm not sure why," Murren said in a telephone interview. "She is looking at me, figuring she will use it someday."

Murren, who is 51, has a sense of humor. Asked his age, he said, "Too old."

He also has always loved art. It's no accident that CityCenter is home to a large public art collection, valued at more than $50 million.

Murren said he also wants to bring an artist's touch to the planned MGM Springfield.

He recalls piling into an old car or beat-up Dodge Ramcharger during his college days to see concerts at the Springfield Civic Center. "I saw the Kinks," he said. "I know that. It was 1982"

The civic center is now the MassMutual Center, which was upgraded and expanded with $71 million in state bonds about eight years ago.

MGM Springfield would include a pedestrian bridge to be connected to the MassMutual Center, owned by the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority.

MGM initially floated plans to locate a casino in Brimfield, about 30 miles east of Springfield.

But, Murren said, every time he visited the region, he would stop in Springfield. He said he saw the opportunity to assemble properties in the city as a casino site, and the company dropped its plans for Brimfield and unveiled plans for Springfield last August.

"I really have found an awful lot to love about Springfield," he said, mentioning the architecture of Symphony Hall and several restaurants, including the Red Rose Pizzeria and Theodores' Blues Booze & BBQ, which he enjoys.

Murren said MGM's proposal calls for a different type of casino planned on land near Interstate 91. The casino resort will have 54 apartments, 20 shops and 10 restaurants, 85,000-square-feet of office space and a gaming floor, all in the vicinity of a public outdoor entertainment plaza, according to filings with the city by MGM.

The mixed-use resort, Murren said, will be "outward facing," to symbolize an historic city that is moving forward.

"It makes more sense for a city clawing its way back from a variety of challenges," said Murren, a man who knows a bit about "clawing back" in the business world.